A Loose End
by Duck Toucher
Summary: In the far future of Tamriel, a daily struggle for life and death goes on just as it did millenia ago.
1. Chapter One

The first thing I notice is the acrid smell of blood. It's been in my apartment for months now and every time I wake up from some intense binge drinking, I'm greeted by it. It reminds me of the mistake I made when I brought that _s'wit_ into my apartment. I head to the bathroom, looking at the pile of broken mirror still in the dustpan tray. I had broken the mirror when I smashed his face against it, now it just functioned as a reminder of what happens when I lose my cool.

I picked up a fragment of glass resting on the sink and took a look at myself. I looked tired; the bags forming under my bright red eyes reminded me that even my body had limits. My skin was dirty but it didn't matter, since my ashen grey skin seemed to mask it well and I was far too hung-over to be bothered with a cold shower. My landlord still hadn't called the conjuror to re-summon a flame atronach into the water heating room. Seemed a little cruel to some people to lock a being into a small room for months, even if that being was made entirely of fire and would kill you the second it looked at you. Me, I wasn't so sympathetic. I needed a _fetching_ shower and I needed it yesterday.

I headed out the door when I realised that the landlord still hadn't fulfilled her end of the bargain, as usual. I paused as I walked past a grimy window. I backtracked and looked through it. The city was brimming with activity as all manner of transports were flying about. Dwemer hovercraft, Cyrod cruisers and even an Akaviri lancer sped past the window, some taking off into the night sky. The night sky. _FETCH. _I had slept an entire day, getting out of bed the same time I collapsed into it. I hurried down the stairs in a panic. I practically flew out the door as I tapped into the Digital, seeing a message pop in front of my eyes.

**12 UNREAD MESSAGES.**

I could feel cold sweat running down my cheek as I hailed a taxi. I got in, the stench of wet fur and moon sugar assaulting my nostrils. I had no time to complain about the smell and instead told the driver the address I was supposed to be 3 hours ago. He smiled a big smile that showed off his large, sharp teeth and offered to take me through a shortcut. For the first time since I left the apartment, I paused. I was already late. Very late. She'd probably be at her apartment by now. Besides, this driver would probably turn the locator off and take me to some alley where he and some Senche-Raht would beat the piss out of me for the few New Drakes I had on me. I decided to stay on the Grid and head to her apartment. Vela's apartment.

I arrived at my destination pretty much in one piece. I hurried up the stairs and walked to her door, hoping that the smell of _sujamma_ had worn off. The door to apartment 336 was in front of me. I cleared my throat and prepared to knock. That proved to be unnecessary. As soon as I touched wood, the door swung open and I got knocked onto my ass. Vela was standing above me, her strong Redguard features twisted in rage. She said she could smell and hear me before I reached the door and made a rather uncalled for remark regarding my mother. I tried to reason with her as I got to my feet but I just got knocked to the ground again for my trouble.

The familiar smell and taste of blood filled my mouth and nostrils as she stood over me. For a minute, it looked like she was about to kill me. Then she picked me up and threw me into her apartment. I smiled even as the back of my head collided with her couch. I was inside, which meant she wasn't that mad. I could fix this. She picked me up and punched me in the gut before I could even open my smart mouth. Probably for the best.

I spent a lot of time inside her apartment, alternating between nursing my wounds and explaining what had happened to getting fresh wounds whenever she happened not to like what I was saying at that moment. It went from beating to excuses, excuses to yelling, yelling to make up sex. Ah beautiful make up sex, where would I be without you? As she fell asleep in my arms, I tapped into the Digital again to read through her messages, if only to remove that annoying red message marker in the corner of my vision. Just as I had expected, she had sent me a string of messages that was almost as bad as the physical abuse I received earlier. I smiled and closed the messages. I noticed the message marker was still there. Someone else had sent me a message. I looked through it, it read:

"An old friend of a friend was looking for you at Sareth's today. If I were you, I'd lay low for a while."

I stopped smiling. If that was who I thought it was, then this was no laughing matter. I kissed Vela on the forehead and slipped out, making my way down the stairs. I was going to Sareth's to tie up a loose end. An end that had come from a long piece of bloody rope.


	2. Chapter One Point Five

I sipped my _sujamma_ from an empty corner of the bar, apparently already forgiving alcohol for its merciless thrashing of my brain earlier that night. The owner of Sareth's was a Hist tree and the namesake of the bar was the scrawny argonian that was never too far away from the loving embrace of the tree. There were rumours of course that once an anonymous patron offered a lot of drakes for private time alone with one of the tree roots. Word is he got his money's worth.

I quickly shook the thought out of my head. _Fetching Sujamma_ I thought as I took another sip. I looked through the documents my benefactor had given me through an invisible thread in the Digital. There were three images within. One was of my darling Vela. The other was of her father. An intense regret welled up in my stomach, which I quelled with a long pull of _sujamma_. The last picture was of Vela's brother, Rom. Rom looked exactly as I remembered him, short black hair and a dark complexion and sharp features that he shared with his sister. I felt something small and hard press against the left side of my head. Rom was here and he found me before I found him.

I figured I had about one minute of him going on about revenge before he could activate that ring and send my head flying in a million different directions at once. Perhaps I co


End file.
